Oooh, this will be a lot of fun! I always love to discover new music, so this will be a great opportunity to do that.
I personally have a TON of songs that I love that think are Perfect Tens that most people probably haven’t heard of…
- “My My” by Reigning Sound.
- “Only When I Dream” by the Bobby Fuller Four.
- “Falling in Love Again” by Syl Johnson.
Those are just a few of examples. Want to hear about some more?
Let’s see what folks on AskReddit had to say.
1. Heard this one?
“You Go Down Smooth- Lake Street Dive.
Lake Street Dive is slept on as HELL. This was the first of their songs that I heard, but now I adore their entire discography and have seen them three times in concert.
All of their albums have incredible bangers, but since they added Akie Bermiss for the last album/EP their energy has been off the charts. Young Boy, Angioplast, Red Light Kisses, and Baby Don’t Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts are some of their best songs!”
2. I’ll have to check this out.
Klaatu – Calling Occupants of interplanetary craft.
Interesting fact this album leaked in the seventies and everyone was convinced it was recorded by the Beatles secretly.
When it turned out to be a completely different group it was forgotten.
Still a beautiful prog rock sound though.
3. Should have been a hit.
To The Dogs or Whoever by Josh Ritter
Somewhere between outright lyrical brilliance and clever, mischievous wordplay. Smart and still earthy.
It could have/should have been the millennial American Pie but only caught a fraction of the audience it deserved.
4. Underrated.
One of the most underrated songs from one of the most underrated bands, directly from Denmark.
5. Give it a listen.
Probably my favorite song by them. Not only is there a compelling narrative that drives the song, but given the rather tense nature, it speeds up not just the flow, not just the beat, but the time signature.
Goes from 3/4 at the beginning to what I think is 14/8 at the end. Haven’t seen something quite like it in any other rap song.
6. Pinback.
Harmonized vocals and cool bass hooks.
7. The Hotelier.
Your Deep Rest and Housebroken by The Hotelier.
Your Deep Rest being a very personal depiction of losing someone to suicide and Housebroken being (in my eyes) a simultaneous attack on animal and domestic abuse.
8. A beautiful song.
The state v.s. Thomas Light by The Protomen
Easily the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard, with a brilliant buildup, leading to a wonderfully tragic conclusion!
9. A twofer.
Plea From a Cat Named Virtute by the Weakerthans.
It’s the first in what eventually became a four song series.
10. Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
Hide by Rainbow Kitten Surprise.
My favorite band out there rn. I was gonna see them last week (even had M&G tickets) but obviously that got postponed til god knows when.
I was so excited to show them the tattoo I got! It’s the lyrics “the quiet die young” from Painkillers.
Also 10/10 recommend (from the same album) Its Called:Freefall.
11. An Icelandic song.
Vor í Vaglaskógi by KALEO is an amazing song!
It’s in Icelandic and is absolutely beautiful
12. A rock opera.
Amazing rock opera.
13. M Ward.
I would always play this song for my kids when they were younger and my daughter would call it “Chinese Tarajalation,” then one day she said Chinese Translation and it made me sad.”
14. From Norway.
Homesick by a Norwegian band called ‘Airbag’
If you like psychedelic rock and have heard the likes of Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree, this song is pure class.
15. This sounds cool.
They are a Mongolian band who combine traditional instruments and throat singing with modern rock and synth sounds.
They are totally awesome!
16. From another time…
Dengue Fever – “Escape from Dragon House”
A song that sounds like it’s from another time, but not a time you’re familiar with. The story of this band is incredible. They started out as a cover band of rock n roll artists from Cambodia, most of whom were wiped out by the Khmer Rouge in the 60s and 70s.
A whole music scene disappeared with little evidence remaining, aside from what people had saved on tape cassettes. Dengue Fever has also done a lot to preserve the music from that time period in Cambodia.
I also recommend looking up a lot of the artists they covered in their early career like Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron, and Sinn Sisamouth.
17. A fantastic mix.
The Comet is Coming- Summon the Fire.
Easily in my personal top ten.
The combination of what sounds like urban jazz and funk electronica makes for a fantastic mix.
18. Solo stuff.
Not enough people know how good Mark Knopfler’s solo albums are.
Shangri-La and Sailing to Philadelphia are two of his finest.
19. Time to fly.
Makes me feel like I’m flying.
20. A tragic song.
Incredible rap about his friend who got shot and killed in the projects in Chicago when they were just growing up and coming into their own.
21. Time for some metal!
Anything by the band Stratovarius.
They’re a disbanded 90’s Finnish power metal band.
My favorite album was they’re final one Enigma: Intermission II.”
22. Check it out.
“Soldier, Poet ,King” by The Oh Hellos.
Just recently heard of the band but I got hooked on pretty easily.
They got some pretty cool songs if you wanna check them out.
23. I like the title.
This is not his original song, the original song is Cry Tunes by Donny Dumphy, but I think most would agree this version is much better.
(Editor’s Note: Caution, there’s blood in that video link.)
24. Devastating.
A brilliant song with a brilliant framing device.
One of the most devastating songs of all time.
25. A collaboration.
When Good Dogs Do Bad Things By the Dillinger Escape Plan w/ Mike Patton.
If you like hardcore… this is heaven.
26. Sounds promising.
Texas Sun – Leon Bridges on vocals; Khruangbin backing him up.
This a sort of soft rock/alt/country love song. Just give it a shot and see what you think.
27. I wonder what this is like…
Although, due to the circusy parts I’d give it an 8/10 overall.
Without the circusy parts 10/10.
29.
It’s a great short story on a traveling guitar player who cares for only one thing: finding a crowd to play for, playing, then finding the next crowd, and so on.
The song happily builds up the story, then breaks into sadness as he connects profoundly with his audience, then back to happiness all around and more build up, then a tragic twist occurs.
All while the array of background instruments slowly expands, and eventually crescendos into an extatic crowd and its euphoric shoutcasters, while a perfectly placed violin rounds the whole song off with a simple set of notes that together with the story, the melody, the crowd, and with you, drift away and fade out.
It’s such a perfect balance between major and minor — it gets me every time.
It’s so incredibly fucking well done that I cannot understand why this is not a classic. Seriously: if anyone listens and has an idea, then tell me. Reply and give it your worst. I want to know if I’m biased or insane or plain right here.
Thanks for all the recommendations, people of Reddit!
Now we want to hear even more from all of you.
In the comments, please share recommendations of songs you absolutely love but most people don’t know about.
We look forward to hearing from you!
